Lec 6 - electoral systems

Question 1

What do electoral systems do?

Answer 1

electoral systems determine the party system!!!!

Question 2

political parties

Answer 2

1. organize the popular vote
2. educate and inform the citizenry
3. formulate policy
4. recruit leaders for public office

Peter Mair believes that their function is to organize and stabilize

Question 3

party system static vs. dynamic

Answer 3

has a static and a dynamic component

static: the number of parties in the legislature

the dynamic: their internal cohesion, the relationship with other parties and their propensity to conflict and cooperation

Question 4

measuring stability

Answer 4

stability is measured by the number of governments or the number of premiers

Question 5

stable vs. unstable systems

Answer 5

stable 2 party systems with low levels of internal cohesion: the U.S.

stable 3 party systems with higher degrees of cohesion: UK, Canada, Australia

unstable multiparty systems: Weimar Germany, Fourth Republic France, Postwar Italy

France today: transforming from a stable to unstable party system

Question 6

why do electoral systems matter

Answer 6

electoral systems and the party systems aggregate democratic preferences and translate them into policy

both manage the democracy/ efficiency trade off

if the electoral system and the party system breakdown, the result can be instability, chaos, and coups

BUT an overly powerful party system can result in a democratic dictates opposed by a majority of the public

Question 7

plurality systems

Answer 7

winner takes all FPTP

single member constituency
- the candidate with largest % of votes takes the seat. Canada, UK, US.

block vote
- FTPT with multimember districts (voters can cast as many votes as there are candidates; ones with a plurality win

Question 8

party block vote

Answer 8

hybrid of the two systems

voters have a single vote in multimember districts, but they choose between party lists (the block of candidates) rather than individual representatives

party winning most votes take all the seats, and its entire list of candidates is elected

Djibouti, Lebanon, most representatives in singapore, and senegal

tend to increase disproportionality

party lists used in some cases (Lebanon) to ensure representation of religious/ethnic groups

Question 9

advantages of plurality systems

Answer 9

simplicity for the voter

clear choice at elections thus producing majority governments

true in both single member constituency and block vote

Question 10

disadvantages of plurality system

Answer 10

some votes count more so small parties get punished

when combined with the westminster model, it allows governments to introduce sweeping changes opposed by a majority of the public.

Question 11

Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990)

Answer 11

launched monetarist experiment that devastated industry and led to mass unemployment

privatized whole sections of the economy

restricted union power

slashed taxes and cut spending for education, health, local government, and social support

uk went form one of the most equal societies in europe to one of the most unequal

with a coalition government this would have been impossible

Question 12

proportional representation systems

Answer 12

are multiple but they attempt to convert votes more directly into seats

used in 50% of full democracies, particularly in western europe and latin america

raise the threshold to keep out extremist parties. in germany it is high. netherlands it is low

Question 13

advantages of PR

Answer 13

votes are not waster and its more democratic

tends to moderate policies

encourages, indeed, requires cross party cooperation

Question 14

disadvantages of PR

Answer 14

can lead to instability

allows extremist parties into the legislature

voters don’t know which government they are voting for

gives too much power to small parties, which play queenmaker and secure policies supported by only a minority of the public (ie the free democratic party in germany)

Question 15

types of pr: single transferrable vote

Answer 15

goal: avoid wasted votes

voters rank their candidates as many or as few as they like

election requires reaching a quota based on the # of vaccancies and # of votes cast

once a candidate reaches the quota their extra votes are given to the next preferred candidate until they reach a quota, then to the next candidate until all votes are distributed

Question 16

single transferrable vote advantages

Answer 16

most sophisticated system

captures ranking and intensity of preferences

maintains districts and representatives links with voters

influences the composition of coalitions

Question 17

single transferrable votes disadvantages

Answer 17

complicated and requires degree of numeracy

other standard problems associated with PR

Question 18

thomas HARE formula

Answer 18

way in which quota is calculated

total votes divided by total seats

if there are seats left over and no candidates reaches the quota, the candidate with the highest vote wins

produces higher proportionality

Question 19

Henry DROOP formula

Answer 19

total votes divided by total seats + 1 + 1 overall

lower quota means that more candidates meet it

majority problem

Question 20

D’Hondt Formula

Answer 20

uses a series of rounds to approach proportionality. some variation in practice. in northern ireland, it works as follows

total votes a party has (V) divided by the number of seats they hold at the beginning of the round (S) plus 1

S=0 at the first round, meaning the party with the most votes get the seat

at each round, the votes of the party that came out on top on the previous are subject to V(1+1)

the formula recalculated at each round until all seats are allocated

used by israel:

Israel’s electoral system is considered an “extreme” proportional representation model
Allows significant representation of diverse societal groups
Encourages multiparty coalition governments

Closed party list ( where there is no opportunity for voters to favor some candidates over other) voting where voters select entire party lists

Question 21

PR list systems

Answer 21

parties nominate lists of candidates in multimember districts; voters cast ballots for one party list; and seats allocated according to the vote

Question 22

mixed member proportional

Answer 22

bolivia, germany, hungary, italy, mexico, new zealand

voters has 2 votes, first is for the constituency MP (FTPT everywhere but Hungary, where it is a 2-ballot system)

second vote ensures proportionality

winner of first vote takes the seat

second determines seats in the legislature

Question 23

advantages of MMP

Answer 23

high degree of proportionality

retains local MPs

Question 24

disadvantages of MMP

Answer 24

hierarchy of votes: where second matters more than the first

creates 2 classes of MPs

encourages strategic voting

Question 25

german system

Answer 25

first vote for the MP, second for the party candidate with a plurality secures the seat 5% threshold eliminates smaller parties Bundestag (german federal parliament) expands or contracts to ensure proportionality party system: CDU first, AFD second highest seats... voters supporting the rights instead of the left-moving from one extreme to another

Question 26

votes calculated by the Sainte Lague Formula

Answer 26

1. each party's total vote count is divided by a series of odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 2. seats are distributed one by one to the party with the highest resulting quotient at each step formula: Q= V/2s+1 Q: quotient V: total votes recieved by the party S: number of seats the party has already won each time a party wins a seat, the denominater increases thus reducing its chances of winning the next seat unless it has many votes

Question 27

factors affecting proportionality in PR

Answer 27

1. threshold: higher the threshold the lower the proportionality 2. district size or magnitude: the more members per constituency the higher the degree of proportionality (opposite of plurality systems) 3. assembly size: the larger the assembly, the easier it is to achieve proportionality

Question 28

majoritarian systems

Answer 28

as the name implies they ensure that the successful candidate has secured a majority of the vote two main types: alternative and two-ballot

Question 29

alternative vote

Answer 29

voters rank their preferences candidate with absolute majority is immediately elected if no majority candidate with lowest preference is eliminated and votes are distributed upwards until a majority is reached

Question 30

aussie alt. vote

Answer 30

introduced to block the labour party more recent fragmentation of the party system means that preference distribution matters more

Question 31

alt vote adv

Answer 31

1. encourages candidates to appeal to all voters to secure lower order preferences 2. ensures majoritarianism and degree of proportionality

Question 32

alt vote disadvantages

Answer 32

1. complicated 2. not as proportional as PR systems

Question 33

2 ballot system

Answer 33

first vote is a simple multimember electoin; if a candidate secures a majority, they are elected if not candidate has a majority, there is a second ballot a fortnight or so later used in the election of the president of brazil, costa rica, ukraine, and france. top 2 candidates go ahead at the second ballot popular in presidential elections: ukraine, costa rica, france, austria used in legislators like iran and ukraine and uzbekistan french legislutre: 12.5% threshold for moving on the second ballot. candidate with the largest vote at a second threshold is electe,d wehter a majority or not

Question 34

adv of 2 ballot

Answer 34

ensure a majority preference allows two-preferences simpler than alt vote useful for ideologically divided societies

Question 35

disadvantages

Answer 35

punishes small parties in legilsative votes france has traditionally had greater disporpotionality than any westenr european country

Question 36

limited vote

Answer 36

gibralatar, spanish senate multimember districts, fewer votes than there are seats available winning candidates are those with the most votes (plurality) favours smaller candidates but still high degree of disproportionality

Question 37

single non-transferrable vote

Answer 37

jordan, kuwait, vanuatu one vote in a multi seat constituency candidates with highest totals win the larger the district magnitude the higher the degree of proportionality but still less than PR and requires complex voter calculations

Question 38

conclusion

Answer 38

electoral systems create party systems specifically: number of parties which in turn effect the propensity for consensual vs. conflictual government pr systems tend to favor progressive and smaller parties. they are however created by politicians to pursue particular interests de gaulle introduced the 2 ballot system to knock out smaller parties and increased the power of the executive spain intrudced PR after Franco but used a fixed seat of 350 constituencies to achieve disproportionality germany: 5% threshold was meant to be a check on extremism australia: alt vote meant to punish labor canada, UK: PR appeals when its opposition, it repels when in power